


Rusty — New

by hayukofan (Trecriture)



Series: Reddit Fanfiction July 2019 Writing Prompt Fills [2]
Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga)
Genre: Cello, Classical Music, Date Night, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hatori x Mayu, Hatori x Mayuko, Hayuko, Music, Reddit Fanfiction July 2019 Writing Prompts, Romance, Torimayu, Wordcount: 100-1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-28 13:40:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20064928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trecriture/pseuds/hayukofan
Summary: He hasn’t done this in a long time.Hatori x Mayu fic, fill for Prompt #27 of r/Fanfiction's July 2019 Writing Prompts.





	Rusty — New

**Author's Note:**

> Short (<1k words) fanfic and Fruits Basket spoilers from volume 10 on. I'm kind of astonished by how quickly I was able to finish this—thank you Tumblr friends for the support!! ^-^

He hasn’t done this in a long time.

Relaxing enough to get drinks after work, taking a girl out to eat, heck, spending time _alone _with a girl in general… he’s trying, hoping, _praying _to do this properly, because Mayuko more than deserves it, but most days it seems like he’s a rusty, disjointed old robot just going through the motions of <strike>dating</strike> getting to know someone of the opposite sex again. Stiff. Awkward. Like this car ride.

_Thank goodness, _he thinks as he pulls in to a parking spot in front of the restaurant at last. Finally, the terribly long car ride will be over. (Little does he know that Mayuko is thinking the exact same thing.)

However, they’re fine once they’re inside, when there are other conversations and people to serve as buffers and when there’s music playing in the background upon which they can comment. In fact, Mayuko has already begun swaying to the beat of the most recent piece to come on. The soft, easy smile on her face dazzles him, momentarily transporting him two years back in time, when she explained why she valued her friendship with Kana so much (odd, he muses, that he doesn’t feel the familiar pain in his chest at the thought of his first love).

“Do you know this piece?” Mayuko asks, and with a blink, he’s back in the present. He shakes his head.

She gazes past him into the distance, still smiling. Internally, Hatori marvels, wishing he had a camera to record this moment (in particular her expression) forever. Very rarely—or at least, so it seems—is the schoolteacher like this, calm and happy at the same time. “It’s French, by Camille Saint-Saëns,” she patiently explains, unconsciously falling back into schoolteacher mode. (He doesn’t call her out on it.) “It’s called _Le Cygne_, meaning _The Swan_. Ahh, they chose such a beautiful recording!! I wish I knew who was playing… but anyway,” she said, shaking her head at herself, “this was my favorite piece to play in college, and one of the only ones I could actually play half-decently.”

Hatori’s head shoots up. “You play the cello?”

“What, don’t think I’m skilled enough to play an instrument?” she shoots back, but with far less bite than he would have expected. Hatori raises his eyebrows as she takes a sip of her drink, then continues despite the perceived insult (that he didn’t actually intend). Her smile’s a little sadder now, and there’s a melancholic glint in her eyes. “But in a way, you’re right. I don’t play anymore. I haven’t even _touched _my cello in years, what with teaching and looking after the shop more often.” She falls silent, gaze directed downwards at the table now, and for just a moment he catches a glimpse of it—a heavy, _aching _loneliness that grows until it’s practically suffocating—and he can’t stand it, seeing someone else struck by the same affliction he has, and he has to stop it, must help _somehow_—

“Will you play for me sometime?” he asks, and wow, that is _not _what he was expecting to come out of his mouth. Judging by her widened eyes, she wasn’t expecting that either.

It appears that he and Mayuko have malfunctioning brain-to-mouth filters in common as well, for she says, “I’d love to,” then blushes furiously, adding, “I mean! I’d have to practice for at least a bit again, and-and I dunno if you’d prefer I learn something new, or—”

“Mayuko,” he stops her, taking her hands in his and smiling fondly at her. _A cellist’s hands…I never would have known._

“Yes?” she breathes. It’s hard to think properly, with him holding her hands(!) _and_ directing that marvelous, soft smile right at her(!!)—

“You do whatever _you _want to prepare, alright?” He punctuates his statement by gently running his thumb over her knuckles. It seems to work, as her blush dies down and her muscles relax. _Hmmm….I’m going to have to experiment more with this, _he notes, smiling.

“Okay,” she says quietly. And that’s that.

They spend the rest of dinner talking about what activities _he _did at school (“Okay, chess club I can totally see, but _debate club?_” Mayuko asks. “No way!”) and about classical music, which he now considers Mayuko’s second greatest love after books (“Wait, but Betahoffen—” “No no no, it’s _Beethoven_, haha! Heh, heh—sorry, continue—” “_At any rate_, if I heard correctly, he became _deaf _at some point, but he was still composing music? How is that possible?” “Ah, now that’s one of my favorite stories ever! One day…”).

Later, after he’s dropped her back off at her place and they’ve exchanged goodbyes and she’s closed the front door behind her, he brings a hand up to his cheek, where she kissed him good night. Perhaps, he thinks, smiling, even an old dragon like him can learn new tricks.

His cheek’s still tingling, even a few minutes later, when he finally gets back into his car.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [hideriame](hideriame.tumblr.com) and [ultramayuko19870](https://ultramayuko19870.tumblr.com) for your support and fellow approval of Hatori x Mayu!! (I haven’t forgotten about Obi Snark Master Kenobi! :3 That’s for #28, coming soon.) Inspiration from #27 of [this set of July 2019 writing prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/c7q2jp/dabble_in_drabbles_july_2019_daily_prompts/) (Rusty, New).  
UPDATE: The version of Le Cygne I was listening to while I wrote this is [this beautiful version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUHSrAlMc0E) arranged by Tom Hodge and performed by Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Katherine Thomas, and the CBSO Cellos.  
[Cross-posted](https://onceandfuturekitty.tumblr.com/post/186670924353/rusty-new) on Tumblr.


End file.
